The present invention relates to an electronic print board capable of automatically printing not only graphic information written thereon but also various extra information to a hard copy.
In a meeting, proceedings are often aided by a blackboard, a whiteboard and other print boards on which characters and other graphic information may be written as desired. To prepare a minute book or report based on the graphic information written on the print board, the contents need to be duplicated on a paper. Traditionally, a recording secretary was appointed exclusively for the duplication work, i.e., to make a copy of the information by hand. Handwriting, however, consumes so much time that the business cannot be completed without frequent interruptions, while lacking accuracy due to clerical errors.
An automatic recording device for conference use which is generally referred to as an electronic print board is a recent achievement which solves the problems as stated above. Specifically, an electric print board is designed to automatically print graphic information written on its surface to a hard copy, thereby remarkably reducing time and labor necessary for duplication and enhancing the accuracy of recording. Such an electric print board is disclosed in, for example, U.S. Pat. No. 4,587,568 to Takayama et al. entitled "ELECTRONIC PRINT BOARD".
The problem with the prior art print boards of the type described is that the capability attainable therewith is merely producing a duplicate of information which is written on the board. When it is necessary for a date, a program, names of participants and other extra data to be recorded in a report, such data have to be handwritten on the board each time. Further, because the prior art print boards do not have a capability of arranging information in the form of a report, a substantial time and labor is eventually needed for a report to be produced.